NBA ROUNDUP : Trail Blazers Ride Emotions to Beat Pacers

It was with mixed emotions that the Trail Blazers played the Indiana Pacers Sunday night at Portland.

Uppermost in their minds was the condition of teammate Ramon Ramos, critically injured in an auto accident. Then there was the business at hand of trying to come back from a loss in which they blew a 19-point lead against Golden State.

With Clyde Drexler scoring 26 points, the Trail Blazers led most of the way and beat Indiana, 121-113, knocking the Pacers out of first in the Central Division.

“It was hard to keep our minds on the game,” said co-captain Jerome Kersey, who had 20 points. “The only thing important right now is Ramon.”

The doctors give Ramos only a 50-50 chance of survival.

The Chicago Bulls replaced the Pacers as the division leaders. In the Laker matchup Tuesday night at Chicago, it will be Magic Johnson vs. Michael Jordan and the Pacific Division leaders against the Central Division leaders.

Utah 122, Minnesota 112--The Jazz and the Timberwolves spent the night in Minneapolis at the free-throw line and the Jazz beat the expansion team.

Karl Malone made 20 free throws and John Stockton had 15 as the Jazz made 51 of 58 attempts from the line. The Wolves were 40 for 49.

Tony Campbell kept Minnesota in the game and finished with 34 points. He was 16 for 16 from the line.

Houston 109, Orlando 94--When Akeem Olajuwon has a triple-double, it includes blocked shots instead of assists.

The usual triple-double is points, rebounds and assists. Olajuwon blocked 10 shots, had 32 points and 25 rebounds at Houston in the win over the other expansion team.

During a game-clinching 17-5 run in the fourth quarter, Olajuwon had six points, four rebounds and two blocks.

Phoenix 125, Sacramento 113--Eddie Johnson and Tom Chambers led the Suns to their first road win after seven defeats.

Johnson had 37 points, while Chambers had 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.

With the Suns winning, the only teams without victories on the road are the Clippers (0-8) and Charlotte (0-11).

Kurt Rambis had eight points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes.